collection points

We rely totally on the kindness and goodwill of those in our church and the wider community.

Donation Point Update

Stour Valley Vineyard works in partnership with local churches in the Stour Valley area, along with organisations, shops and businesses to provide a number of collection points to meet the demand of those in greatest need. You might be amazed to know that it has now been serving our community for over seven years. In that time we’ve seen hundreds of lives given hope. It has been quite a journey! Today we would like to communicate some important changes.

Over the past year we have been gathering statistics of food donated and distributed via the Storehouse Foodbank. It is clear that, since we moved offices to the Christopher Centre in November 2013, Storehouse has grown rapidly. More people have been able to access the Drop-ins, which means we have been able to serve more local people in crisis than ever before. Storehouse usage in 2015 increase by 62% compared to 2014. That is something to celebrate together!

The number of donation points around the Stour Valley area has also risen to around forty. However, with the rapid growth over the past two years, the Storehouse operation has become in need of some reshaping.

With the increase in donation points (and in particular with Waitrose becoming a full-time donation point last year) we now find ourselves in the unexpected position of having more food than we can distribute on a monthly basis. Even though the team has bee active in connecting to other groups in the community, we are still only using less than half of what we receive in.

Storehouse wants to be honourable and accountable to all food donors, which is why we have taken time to evaluate the Foodbank thoroughly. Alongside this, we have a secondary problem. We are finding our volunteers to be very stretched in time and energy when it comes to collecting food from so many donation points. They are doing an amazing service, but it is not sustainable.

In order to address these issues, we are taking the decision to close down all but the most publically accessible donation points to control stock levels and streamline our efforts.

In addition to our review, we have also been looking at the financial cost to Stour Valley Vineyard Church. In 2015 the running costs came to around £11,500 (covering overheads such as rent, administration, publicity and a portion of salaries). While we are not looking to reduce this cost to ourselves, we would like to ask: would you prayerfully consider supporting Storehouse to help us to continue serving local families in crisis with a regular monthly, quarterly or annual gift? If you are able to do this, we’d be very grateful. Thank you.

However, we do still need food too, as you will see from our increase in usage, we are still giving over 100 bags (around 1000 items) out each month! If you would like to donate food items please drop them at one of the following:

Donation Points

Waitrose, 1 Station Road, Sudbury, CO10 2SS

Ipswich Building Society, 10 Market Hill, Sudbury CO10 2EA

East of England Co-Op, The Drift, Canham’s Road Great Cornard, CO10 0EU

East of England Co-Op, Hall Street, Long Melford, CO10 9JR

East of England Co-Op, High Street, Lavenham, CO10 9PX

You can also bring food along to our Sunday services at the Delphi Centre, Alexandra Road, Sudbury, CO10 2ZX between 10.15-12.30. All of these donation points will take food bought from anywhere.

If you require an emergency foodbag for yourself or know someone you does, please contact Storehouse, not the Collection Point.

If you are a local business, school, church or organisation and would like to become a Collection Point, please speak to the Storehouse Team on: 07973 710905 or email them. Our Collection Point Co-ordinator will then be in touch with you to explain what is done and give you a display pack.

If you require an emergency foodbag for yourself or know someone you does, please contact Storehouse, not the Collection Point.